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Maggie Zhang

Daniel Ren

Tesla will raise prices by about 20 per cent for models sold in China, after Beijing slapped a 25 per cent punitive tariff on American-made automobiles amid an escalating trade row between the world’s largest two economies.
The price adjustment came just six weeks after the US electric carmaker reduced prices following China’s decision to cut car import duties.
A mainland buyer will pay an additional 139,320 yuan (US$21,045) for a Model S 75D which currently sells for 849,900 yuan.
A Model X P100D sells at 1.57 million yuan, up about 256,600 yuan from late May.
Beijing raised the import duties on US-made cars from 15 per cent to 40 per cent on Friday.
Tesla, the biggest-selling electric carmaker in the US, adjusted its China price list on Friday right after the tariff announcement by Beijing.
A sales manager at a Tesla dealer on Nanjing Road, Shanghai, told the Post that the price hike was a result of the China-US trade war and the updated prices are expected to remain unchanged until the end of the year.
Few people showed up at the showroom on Monday afternoon.
Tesla’s Shanghai subsidiary takes it a step closer to making cars in China
Tesla declined to comment on the price changes.
Overall, the retail price of a Tesla are now up 20 per cent for a mainland buyer, compared to those unveiled in late May.
China’s Ministry of Finance announced in May that it would cut import tariffs on vehicles to 15 per cent from 25 per cent effective from July 1.
Tesla is widely viewed as the premium electric vehicle brand on the mainland, even as a clutch of Chinese companies are billing themselves as Tesla challengers.
Mainland electric carmaker Nio has priced its first mass production model starting from 448,000 yuan. Factoring in a governmental subsidy for locally produced electric vehicles, the final price could be less than half the price of a Tesla Model S sedan in Shanghai.
Tesla’s Model 3 has yet to be introduced on the mainland.

“The Chinese competitors are still playing a catch-up game” said Qian Kang, a Zhejiang entrepreneur dealing in car parts. “But a 20 per cent price increase can certainly deter some Chinese Tesla lovers from buying.”
A sales manager surnamed Xu at Nio said he has seen rising interest in the Chinese-made electric car.
Tesla sold 17,000 vehicles in mainland China last year, up 51.6 per cent from 2016, according to the China Automobile Dealers Association.
In May, Tesla set up a 100 million yuan subsidiary in Shanghai which will focus on research and development.
The Shanghai unit was seen as an initial step toward establishing a mainland plant.
Chief executive Elon Musk said the location of a Gigafactory on the mainland could be announced as early as the third quarter of this year.


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Trade

Tesla raises prices in China by 20pc, adding US$21,000 to the cost of a Model S after Beijing rolls out counter tariffs

Tesla released an updated price list on Friday, bumping up the retail cost by around 20 per cent for vehicles sold in China. Photo: AP

FILE PHOTO: A Tesla Model 3 sedan, its first car aimed at the mass market, is displayed during its launch in Hawthorne, California, U.S. March 31, 2016. REUTERS/Joe White/File Photo

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Countries must begin talks on a new global trade agreement under World Trade Organisation to preserve multilateralism, with or without the US

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This photo taken on May 19, 2018 shows a worker preparing to lift a roll of steel with a crane at a shipyard in Nantong in China's eastern Jiangsu province. Washington and Beijing have agreed to abandon any trade war and back off from imposing tariffs on each other, Chinese state media reported on May 20. / AFP PHOTO / - / China OUT

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, left, chats with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He during a photograph session after their meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Sunday, June 3, 2018. U.S. and Chinese officials have discussed specific American export items Beijing might buy as part of its pledge to narrow its trade surplus with the United States, U.S. Commerce Secretary Ross said Sunday as the two sides began a new round of talks in Beijing aimed at settling a simmering trade dispute. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, Pool)

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(FILES) In this file photo taken on April 09, 2018 workers transfer soybeans at a port in Nantong in China's eastern Jiangsu province. Companies and trade groups in the US and China have expressed concern over how the escalating trade spat between the world's two biggest economies could affect operations. Beijing retaliated immediately to tariffs on tens of billions in Chinese imports imposed by US President Donald Trump on June 15, 2018, igniting a trade war that threatens to cut into the pair's massive bilateral trade -- potentially harming exporters and US multinationals keen on China's huge market. / AFP PHOTO / - / China OUT

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Chinese manufacturers continue to produce products for the brand but could there be a change in the supply chain?

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As trade wars begin, the humble mail is a reminder of the value of multilateralism

A postman goes on his rounds in the Pamir Mountains in the remote western region of China, serving more than 5,000 nomads across 2,200 sq km, in March 2012. The Universal Service Obligation strives to ensure that everyone has access to postal services. Photo: Xinhua 

A Brazilian postman delivers letters in Rocinha slum in Rio de Janeiro on October 4, 2013. AFP PHOTO / CHRISTOPHE SIMON